Target will take advertising in the musical competition series to a new level. The retailer will run ads created with NBC that feature former winners of the show – Chris Blue, Sundance Head and Alisan Porter – which will air in commercial time and also in a dedicated hub at NBC.com. The retailer will also run content touting its own brand as well as the show in brief ads that run within a Snapchat show associated with “The Voice.”

Toyota returns to the series. The automaker will support “Voice” contestants through its Toyota Music program, and its cars and messages will also appear in the program and in ad breaks via custom content that makes use of the show’s artists and talent. Toyota’s Camry will be showcased prominently, including in a piece starring host Carson Daly that aired last night. A
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Peter Gerwe’s StoryFirst has bought Pinewood-Shepperton Studios out of their joint-venture production company, Pinewood Television. The company was set up in early 2016 as a producer of high-end TV drama for the international market. StoryFirst will now rename the business.

Helen Gregory, the co-creator and co-executive producer of Shondaland/ABC series “The Catch,” runs Pinewood Television and will stay put, as will co-production executive Christian Wikander, who joined in August 2016 from Swedish pubcaster Svt, where he was head of drama. Board members Gerwe, Michael Grade, and Premila Hoon will all also remain in place.

Pinewood Group Chairman Paul Golding said the company was moving away from developing new content but would remain in film and TV financing. “We wish StoryFirst every success in the next stage of the company’s development,” he said. “In the meantime, Pinewood will continue to finance independent screen-based content rather than developing new material.”

The spinoff series has just launched on CBS in the U.S. and follows 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper, one of the central figures in “The Big Bang Theory,” which is one of the most popular American TV shows internationally.

E4 also has “The Big Bang Theory,” which is one of its top performers. Season 10 was its biggest show of the year, doubling the average viewing share in its slot on the digital channel.

“Young Sheldon,” will launch in Britain in 2018. The 13-part series stars Ian Armitage as the titular young incarnation of Sheldon, and Jim Parsons, who plays the grown-up Sheldon, narrates the series and is also an executive producer.

In its review of the series opener, Variety said that “Young Sheldon” didn’t quite gel, but added that “the premise and a few performances
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South Korea has become the first territory in Asia where the Bet Channel has launched. Formerly known as Black Entertainment Television, the channel covers entertainment, music and news on urban black culture.

The channel kicked off Tuesday as a partnership between channel owner Viacom International Media Networks and South Korean pay-tv operator Sk Broadband. Bet is available on “B tv,” Sk’s linear service, as well as oksusu, Sk’s over-the-top (Ott) streaming service. Subscribers will be able to enjoy multi-platform viewing with digital simulcast and catch-up TV options for selected programs.

“The introduction of the Bet Channel in Asia is a key step in strengthening our presence both in South Korea and in Asia, while expanding our portfolio of adult-targeted brands,” said Paras Sharma, senior VP and Gm for Southeast Asia and head of digital media, Asia.

“We believe the Bet channel will find a fan base among Korean youth, who
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Peppa, George and Daddy Pig will hit Japanese screens next month after free-to-air broadcaster TV Tokyo picked up preschool hit “Peppa Pig.”

It will launch on TV Tokyo on Oct. 10, marking the latest rollout in the show’s push into Asia.

U.K.-listed eOne owns the property after acquiring a controlling stake in its producer Astley Baker Davis in 2015 for £140 million ($188 million). In Asia the show is on Nick Jr. and Viacom’s Voot Svod platform, and in China on CCTV and several streaming platforms including iQIYI, and Youku.

“‘Peppa Pig’ is enjoying tremendous ratings and retail success across Asia, so we’re incredibly excited to be bringing the brand to Japan,” said Andrew Carley, head of global licensing at eOne Family. “Asia is a key focus for our global licensing strategy so we’re keen to explore opportunities in this exciting new market.”

Peppa has become a huge brand for younger viewers and also generates
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Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel used his Monday-night monologue to suggest that the current Republican effort to repeal Obamacare was dead – and touted his role in the effort.

“I think I need to come clean,” Kimmel said during his monologue at a taping for Monday’s broadcast. “Here’s what happened. So my wife and I were worried about health care. We didn’t like what the Republicans were doing… So we decided – to have a baby with congenital heart defects. Ok? And then – once we had that going for us – I went on TV, I spoke out – and we may have stopped Cassidy-Graham! I still can’t believe we pulled it off, but we did it! It’s amazing, isn’t it? It’s really unbelievable.”

Kimmel has been speaking about the topic sporadically – once after his son, Billy, was born earlier this year, and again in recent days, as a new Republican effort to pass a
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Bill O’Reilly is poised to return to Fox News on Tuesday for the first time since he was abruptly fired in April.

The longtime Fox News anchor has been booked as a guest on Sean Hannity’s 9 p.m. program. Fox News confirmed late Monday the lineup of “Hannity” guests for the rest of the week. The list includes House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday and radio host Rush Limbaugh on Thursday. On Monday night, Hannity’s guest was former Trump special advisor Steve Bannon.

O’Reilly’s appearance on “Hannity” sets up an awkward situation for Fox News. O’Reilly has been on a media tour the past few weeks discussing his exit from Fox News amid a firestorm of controversy about sexual harassment allegations. He is also promoted the latest in his series of alternate history novels, “Killing England,” which was published earlier this month. The book is expected to be the focus of
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As the focus of NFL player protests turned to the national primetime platform of Espn’s “Monday Night Football,” the Dallas Cowboys football team took a knee moments before the singing of the National Anthem at the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, arranged for a gigantic American flag that covered the length of the field to be carried out and unfurled by dozens of fans, military and law enforcement veterans.

During the singing of the anthem by Jordin Sparks, the Cowboys stood with locked arms, as did the Cardinals. It did not appear that any members of the Cardinals took a knee during the pre-game ceremony.

NFL players across the league on Sunday registered their outrage at President Donald Trump’s harsh comments suggesting the league fire players who opt against standing for the National Anthem as a means of protesting police brutality and racial inequality.

Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not watched “The Proposal Proposal,” the Sept. 25 11th season premiere of “The Big Bang Theory.”

It was a no-brainer that the 11th season premiere of “The Big Bang Theory” had to open seconds after Sheldon (Jim Parsons) got down on one knee to propose to Amy (Mayim Bialik). But what wasn’t initially as clear, says executive producer Steve Holland, was whether she would immediately say yes.

“As we were breaking that episode, we talked about if there was a possibility where he tells her about the kiss and that makes her hold off on saying yes,” Holland tells Variety.

But what ultimately swayed him and his writing staff, though, was the fact that Amy is “so in love with Sheldon” and “this is the thing that she has wanted for so long,” he says. So Holland felt like delaying the inevitable “yes” would feel forced for the character
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Megyn Kelly needs no introduction to American viewers, but the debut of her one-hour morning show spent far too much time celebrating the show’s arrival and showing her off to viewers. It opened with Kelly recounting an anodyne, maudlin version of her life story (and pitching her book, of course). And midway through, there was another long segment in which “Today” veterans showed her the ropes behind the scenes. If you were dying to see Kelly flip the contents of a frying pan with Matt Lauer, this frenetic show had you covered.

All of this introductory material was largely strained, and frankly unnecessary. Most viewers know who Kelly is, not least because earlier this year, NBC itself aired her interview program “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly.” Before that, of course, she was an anchor on Fox News and a favorite target of Donald Trump — before cozying up to him in a poorly received prime-time special that
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Moss, who just won an Emmy for her role on Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” faced this zinger from @Glambr: “Elisabeth Moss looks Stunning. I think she can clean up well, despite my grandmother’s harsh opinion that she’s hideous.”

And then there’s Parsons, star of “The Big Bang Theory” and the upcoming “Young Sheldon.” His tweet from @Vault801Dweller said: “Jim Parsons looks like a ventriloquist dummy that came to life to become a sex offender.” Parsons blinked hard, said “Oh, God!”

The segment, which was created in 2012, has had multiple editions on Kimmel’s show, including one with NFL players and another with social
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In today’s roundup, the live musical production of “Rent” will premiere in 2019, Paramount Network offers a first look at Taylor Kitsch in “Waco,” and Sanaa Lathan joins the cast of Showtime’s “The Affair.”

Premiere Dates

The live musical production of the musical “Rent” will air Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019 on Fox. More details and casting will be announced later. Set in New York City’s East Village, “Rent” tells the story of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams during a time of great social and political turmoil. A re-imagining of Puccini’s “La Boheme,” the Broadway show celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. “Rent” will be executive-produced by Marc Platt (“Grease: Live,” “La La Land,” “Wicked”), Adam Siegel, Julie Larson, Al Larson, and Revolution Studios’ Vince Totino, Scott Hemming and Marla Levine.

The upcoming HBO documentary “The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee” will debut on Dec. 4. Told
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PBS announced the U.S. broadcast premiere of “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years,” director Ron Howard’s documentary about the early life and times of The Beatles. The Emmy and Grammy Award-winning film premieres Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. Et, followed by an encore broadcast of “Sgt. Pepper’s Musical Revolution,” directed by Francis Hanly, at 10:30 p.m. Et.

“The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years” highlights the band’s key moments from 1962-1966, the period that solidified The Beatles’ status as an international phenomenon. In the documentary, Howard explores how John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr created The Beatles and developed to the point of Beatlemania, a term that describes the band’s passionate fan base and marks a significant increase in the globalization of culture.

The film includes rare and never-before-seen archival footage of concerts and interviews, as well as new interviews with McCartney, Starr
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“Star Trek: Discovery” got off to a solid start for CBS on Sunday night with a multi-pronged assignment.

For CBS, the premiere of the much-anticipated addition to the “Star Trek” canon delivered a respectable crowd of 9.6 million viewers and a 1.9 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic.

For CBS All Access, the dawn of a new day for “Star Trek” broke the Svod service’s single-day record for new subscriber sign-ups, besting the mark set earlier this year by the Feb. 12 Grammy Awards telecast.

CBS would not disclose the total number of new subscribers but said that the past week also marked a record for new sign-ups, and not surprisingly the month of September is pacing to be a record. The real test for CBS Corp. is how many of those free-trial subscribers convert to paying customers down the road after the gratis month ends. Those numbers should be evident by early next year when the Eye reports
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CBS has named Yelena Chak the network’s new drama-development head. She will report to Thom Sherman, senior executive VP of programming for CBS Entertainment.

As senior VP of drama development, Chak takes over for Christina Davis, who elected not to return to the network in July following her maternity leave.

“I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Yelena in action for the last three months, and it quickly became clear that she is the right person for the job,” Sherman said. “She has excellent relationships in the community, as evidenced by the overwhelming number of calls I’ve received singing her praises not only as a great executive, but a great person. I’m excited to watch her thrive in this expanded role.”

Chak joined CBS in 2007 as director, drama series, and was promoted to VP in 2009. Among the series she helped develop are “Scorpion,” “Madam Secretary,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Blue
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Amy Jackson will play the latest hero headed to Earth. The role marks the U.S. debut of the Bollywood actress, who started her career as a model. This won’t be the first time Saturn Girl has appeared in a live-action DC series. Alexz Johnson played the character during the eighth season of “Smallville.”

Saturn Girl, a.k.a. Imra Ardeen, is a kind, strong-willed hero who uses her telekinetic powers to help those in need. She was born on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, and arrives on Earth just in time to help Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) face one of her biggest threats.

The hero’s first appearance in a DC comic was in 1958’s “Adventure Comics” #247. In the comics, Saturn Girl is one of the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries. She
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There may be no bigger issue plaguing the industry than diversity (or to be more accurate, the lack thereof), and Univision is stepping up to tackle it head on.

A new initiative called “Project Unbound” strives to close the diversity gap in entertainment both in front of and behind the camera by raising awareness, supporting emerging storytellers, and creating more inclusive content.

“It’s an effort to stop taking about it and start doing something about it,” says Tonia O’Connor, chief revenue officer of Univision Communications. “Because as much as we talk about it, the numbers have not moved. In some examples, they’ve gone backwards. It’s just unacceptable.”

O’Connor blames the existing ecosystem in the industry for the resistance to change. “We’ve made progress, no question, in terms of formats, new technology, new opportunities,” she says. “But at the end of the day, the access for young diverse creators, it
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Veteran communications executive Jean Guerin has joined Fox Broadcasting as the network’s new head of public relations.

Guerin steps into the role vacated by Shannon Ryan, who was named chief marketing officer at Fox Television Group earlier this year. She will report to Ryan as executive VP, publicity and corporate communications.

“Jean is a gifted strategist and one of the most respected communications executives in television and film,” said Ryan. “Her extensive experience, combined with her keen knowledge of the business, makes her the perfect fit for Fox, and we can’t wait for her to join our talented publicity team.”

Guerin heads to Fox from Sony Pictures Entertainment, where she was senior VP of media relations for the motion-picture group. In a memo to staff Monday, Sony’s Bob Lawson wrote, “I want to thank Jean for her tireless work and dedication to Spe. She has been a terrific colleague and partner throughout some of
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